Originally posted by Nephthys
Didn't the previous Water Avatar get his wifes face stolen because he was just so lazy and abused his powers?
Yeah Kuruk's the one that didn't do anything while he was the Avatar. Granted Yangchen must've done some impressive stuff to give him that much leeway.
Also anyone feel bad for Asami? She see Korra kiss Mako again and still has enough composure to think up a plan of attack.
As for Unalaq, I was expecting his waterbending to be more uber when fused with Vaatu considering that it should've been the stronger spirit.
I liked that Unalaq still only had waterbending since he hadn't gotten the other elements from lionturtles. I thought that bending fight between him and Korra was really ****ing cool.
Also its kind of endearing how at the end, even though she could fire spirit lasers from her chest, Korra still preferred to try and punch things. Thats our Korra!
Originally posted by SamZED
I actually didn't find it that cool. Or the giants thing. Should've just been Avatar vs dark Avatar as the final battle. Simple concept but works.
Am I the only one happy to learn that Iroh lived a very long life after TLA finale?
They all kind of did? It was an eighty year gap. Iroh was apparently around for at least half that time.
Originally posted by ares834
I was actually thinking now that the spirit world is opened couldn't Iroh just come back to the real world.
In way, yeah. That could totally happen. I don't really think he'd have much reason for doing so, though.
Originally posted by SamZED
Ugh.. Head is spinning. So many things I don't understand...1) so now anyone can meditate in the tree and turn his spirit into Godzilla? What the hell was that about? And if thats the case who needs avatars?
2) how did Jinora bring Raava back to life so early? How did she do all the things she did?
3) is Aang and other spirits lost forever? I mean I got their message "be your own person, don't look back bla bla" but still WTF???As for Korra being useless.. she did win, wasn't perfect but still a victory and that's what counts. Also she did beat Vaatu with min efforts before it fused with her uncle.. And if Korra managed to do that then Aang (whose avatar state from the last book was a lot more kick ass than Korra's) would probably make Vaatu flee for its life and lock itself in that tree lol Seriously not Wan nor Korra kicked that much ass in AS.
1) Energybending + Phenomenal Cosmic POWER!!!!
For the last 10,000 years, humans haven't exactly been able to access the Tree of Time.
Kinda funny how Aang had to go through the tedious process of opening his 7 chakras to access Cosmic Power, whereas Korra simply sat under a Tree.
2) Unexplained. Obviously something to do with her affinity for the spiritual side of things.
3) Probably. I think she cannot connect to them anymore or draw from their experience. Maybe she'll be able to reconnect afterwards.
Yeah, the ease with which Korra incapacitated Vaatu was cool.
Soo, First First Avatar was likely a Fire Nation Ancestor dude. Second First Avatar was Water Tribe girl. mmm
Actually there's only one thing that's really bugging me. There was no reason why (1) Unaloq would have been able to bend all four elements just from merging with Vaatu when it took a long process involving Lion-Turtles as well as merging with Raava for it to work with Wan and (2) it makes no sense that he'd immediately know how to bend them well.
Originally posted by Rage.Of.OlympusKorra's made me realize why some people hate female protagonists. It seems to be difficult to not make them suck. Nothing but shitty choices, crying, drama and self-pity. And I was so looking forward to a more physical, ass-kicking female Avatar. Now I just miss Aang way more.
Originally posted by Demonic Phoenix
1) Energybending + Phenomenal Cosmic POWER!!!!
For the last 10,000 years, humans haven't exactly been able to access the Tree of Time.
Kinda funny how Aang had to go through the tedious process of opening his 7 chakras to access Cosmic Power, whereas Korra simply sat under a Tree.
2) Unexplained. Obviously something to do with her affinity for the spiritual side of things.
3) Probably. I think she cannot connect to them anymore or draw from their experience. Maybe she'll be able to reconnect afterwards.Yeah, the ease with which Korra incapacitated Vaatu was cool.
Soo, First First Avatar was likely a Fire Nation Ancestor dude. Second First Avatar was Water Tribe girl. mmm
Originally posted by Omega Vision
Actually there's only one thing that's really bugging me. There was no reason why (1) Unaloq would have been able to bend all four elements just from merging with Vaatu when it took a long process involving Lion-Turtles as well as merging with Raava for it to work with Wan and (2) it makes no sense that he'd immediately know how to bend them well.
He didn't. Unalaq only ever bent water, even when joined with Vaatu.
Originally posted by Omega Vision
Yeah..."some people." By saying that, were you trying not to sound incredibly misogynistic? (Hint: it didn't work)
Whatever. I don't hate women or some silly nonsense, I don't mind women protagonists (Other then role playing games). As a matter of fact, I really enjoy badass chicks. However, Korra sucks and unfortunately, I think it's because she's a woman, or more accurately, a teenage girl. Pretty much the embodiment of unstable, emotional, drama machines.
And she cries too much. I don't know why having a vagina means you have to break down into tears every time things look bleak or are difficult. Annoying.
Oh gay. Prepare for a massive post.
From dj_clawson:
"I went through the whole series again this week with a friend of mine who has a master's in Chinese classics and we were discussing the show. A lot of people think the show is about Taoism, and the truth is that it does use a Taoist imagery, but the Taoism is mostly found in the non-bending parts of the show, the political and philosophical stuff. Iroh is obviously a Taoist, and less religiously, Varrick, in that they both go with the flow and use unexpected events to their advantage. Iroh saw with his son and Azula's death that things were spun out of balance, so he decided to protect and train Zuko, knowing that he was the true heir and life would probably bring Zuko back around to that, even if Zuko had to figure a lot of it out for himself for it to be a learning experience. ANYWAY...
Buddhist cosmology, specifically the Tibetan mythology on which the Airbenders are so heavily based, deal with cycles. Every five thousand/ten thousand/an-unspecific-but-long-time-amount of years, the wheel of Dharma turns, and the light of Dharma (buddhist teachings) dims to the point of almost being out, and a new Buddha arrives to renew the spark and the new cycle begins. There are myths where someone so evil comes along (like Rudra) that he defeats all the Buddhas of his time and enslaves all the people, spirits, and Hindu gods, and the world is totally encased in darkness until a new Buddha arrives and defeats him by creating a Buddha-field of pure bliss. In the Rudra myth in particular, Buddha actually swallows Rudra, who is overwhelmed by the Buddha's perfection and himself achieves Enlightenment and becomes good.
The second important concept is that of the boddhisatva, the one who becomes Enlightened but stays behind to continue freeing all souls from suffering. The Buddha is not a boddhisatva; when he died, he stayed dead. He described himself like "a candle that is already snuffed out" and the only reason he was alive after he attained Enlightenment was to give teachings, and when he died he would not reincarnate. Boddhisatvas choose to stay in the reincarnation cycle until all are Enlightened.
In Tibetan Buddhism specifically, some teachers become so wise that it is said they are able to control their reincarnations and take a vow to return in another human life to continue their work, and they leave signs and markers for others to find the new child when he/she is born. The most famous example of this is obviously the Dalai Lama, who is on his 14th incarnation. The problem with this system is obviously the children aren't born with the knowledge they've acquired in their previous lives (and whether they actually have memories of their previously lives is a heavily-studied scientific subject with interesting cases) so they have to be re-taught everything so they can continue their work. Life being life, in reality sometimes reincarnations are chosen from the families of wealthy donors to the monasteries or relatives of the monk charged with finding the reincarnation, and sometimes the reincarnations come out badly and decide to cut and run at some point, or abuse their position to gain power and wealth. The most famous example of this is the 7th Dalai Lama, who spent most of his life boozing, womanizing, and writing erotic poetry. The current Dalai Lama is actually pretty skeptical of the reincarnation cycle; he's said publicly, "I believe in it because it hasn't been disproved by science yet." And he's certainly aware that there were political ramifications to him being reborn in the region in which he was born, which is probably why somebody looked for him there.
So in Avatar this is different; the person being reborn is also being reborn with Raava, who transfers herself to the next body with him/her. Also the Avatar is fairly easy to find - only one person can bend more than one element, so there's no mistakes. But you still have the basic concept - Wan spent his life trying to end suffering he had unintentionally caused or suffering that already existed, and he was unable to in that lifetime, so he reincarnated (with Raava's help) to continue his work.
By the time you get down to Korra, this legend has been lost, which takes away a lot of the meaning and reason behind it. After all, what good is a reincarnation who doesn't know the purpose of their reincarnation? Various people tell Korra what the Avatar is - she's "the one who will bring balance to the world" or "she's the bridge between the human and spirit worlds" but that's all rather vague, isn't it? Wan's mission was much less vague. He wanted to end suffering brought on by hunger, thirst, inequality, misunderstanding, and especially war. He was working to that goal long before he was the Avatar; it was essential to his nature. Korra starts out as someone who is not that kind of person, even though she is Raava in her and has a lot of potential, she doesn't know the magnitude of Wan's sacrifice and how that responsibility has been passed on to her. Right before she gets a restart in the spirit waters and learns Wan's story, she's about to START a war between the Imperial fleet (let by the Fire Nation prince of all people) and the Northern Water tribe. Whatever surface reasons she might have for being right, like the mistreatment of her people an her family, she's totally, utterly wrong. Boddhisatvas take a vow to not only work to end the suffering of all living things (As the Dalai Lama puts it: "So long as space endures, and for as long as all human beings remain, until then may I too abide to dispel the misery of the world."😉 but also to take no negative actions that will result in negative karma, as that will ****-up the reincarnation cycle and ultimately not get you anywhere.
My frustration with Korra this season has been that she clearly didn't learn anything last season, and only got her airbending by Avatar fiat, and hasn't done anything with it since. But it turns out the knowledge she was missing was massive. Over 10,000 years, Wan's story has been lost and the light of dharma has dimmed for everyone, even the Airbenders, except the Fire Sages apparently (who have a Buddha statue in their temple). It's not that Korra isn't listening to her teachers; they simply can't help her. She must take steps to fundamentally change who she is and her understanding of her mission in the world and they aren't aware of what that mission is.
So the last episodes, you have some more imagery. You have the "Wisdom Tree" (I thought for serious they were going to say Tree of Knowledge there) which is obviously the Budhi tree under which the Buddha meditated, even if they used a different kind of tree. The fight between Korra and Unalaq is not about balance at all. Unalaq is correct in part of his assumption that there is no balance with only one Avatar. It means good will always prevail because it has an unfair advantage. But of course he's an idiot; good SHOULD prevail. We want good to prevail. If the spirit of evil prevails, it won't just be bad, it will LITERALLY DESTROY THE UNIVERSE, ending all life as we know it and forcing the new Raava to restart the cycle over again. I thought Wan's story made that abundantly clear, and I get stuck on a show where a narrative can be fixed by a five minute conversation ("Hey Unalaq, Vaatu is pure evil, and as cool as destroying the world will be once he's inside you, there will be no balance, because there will be nothing at all. And I guess the next 10,000 years will be really boring because it's just you and Vaatu. What kind of idiot are you, anyway?"😉 Vaatu's also wrong - he seems to think he can permanently destroy Raava, which he can't, as Raava explained to Wan. The cycle continues because they keep regenerating in each other. It took Wan to tip the scales for good.
It opens some questions as to whether the universe Wan lived in was a good one. Vaatu and Raava are much, much older than the current world, so it's implied that the old worlds have been remade and destroyed accordingly, and the current condition of people living on lion turtles is just a fix, the result of spirits and humans not getting along. Was that society good or bad? It had suffering, but so does the Avatar cycle universe. It didn't have war. The spirits and humans were separated, and it's still unclear whether that's a good thing or not (it seems to depend, like everything else, on people's intentions. If they have good intentions, it will go well, if they have bad ones, it will go badly) Wan was clearly disappointed with the world he forced into creation, but it WAS progress in that humans were not static in their development.
With all that in mind, let's swing back to the finale. Raava is killed, ending the Avatar lineage. She's going to be reborn, but we're going to need a reminder of that from the scene where she explained it to Wan when Korra goes in that tree. Tenzin's message to her before she goes in is that it actually comes down to her - Korra - not as the Avatar, but as a person. If SHE wants to end suffering, then SHE can take the first steps towards that. She has the power to change her intentions, and with pure intentions comes a greater understanding and ultimately Enlightenment (which I would not say she achieves in the episode, but she clearly gets something).
So what's with all the kaiju fighting stuff? Korra, even without Raava, is still a reincarnation of the boddhisatva Wan. She still has a build-up of good karma from 10,000 years worth of lifetimes (good and bad karma are both cumulative in the Buddhist system). She has all of that experience to draw on within the Tree of Wisdom, and she uses that to become Enlightened. In Buddhist stories, particularly Indian and Tibetan, you have the Buddhas and the boddhisatvas and the arhats performing all kinds of miracles either to prove they are Enlightened to naysayers or to cause positive change in the universe. They grow into giant people, they ride on tigers who thesmselves ride on rainbows, they fly, they spit fireballs, they stop the sun in it's place, they swallow demons and purity them, they convince evil spirits to become good ones, they even kill people in a way that I can't fully explain here, but it usually ends well. So Korra turning into a giant blue person - as well know, blue represents goodness in the Avatar universe - and fighting a giant red person is pretty in-line with everything else happening. Unalaq is defeated, and will probably not reincarnate (negative reincarnation lines generally don't exist because it takes dharma understanding to even achieve an intentional reincarnation - Unaqlaq will probably be reborn in a thousand hells and spent 10,000 lifetimes working his way up from a paraside to a dung beatle to whatever until he's worked off his negative karma to be human again). Vaatu - well, to be honest, I'm unclear on where Vaatu went, but I assume he'll be reborn at some point in time for the next Harmonic Convergence.
What happens to Korra? The reincarnation line isn't broken. She just can't cheat and go talk to her previous selves anymore because that link has been severed by Raava's temporary death. She still is the same soul, and unless something else happens she still will reincarnate again with Raava's help to continue Wan's work of ending human suffering.
This is all speculation; I don't actually know what the writers were thinking, but based on the art book from TLA, they don't actually write as far ahead as we think they do; they're just excellent ast making it LOOK like it was all planned out. So anything could happen. The fundamental world rules about bending and the Avatar haven't changed. The only change is the open spirit portals. The connection to TLA isn't severed; we just won't be hearing Korra speak to Aang or any of her other past incarnations.
Also: Bring on Zuko!
PS I do not know what the Jinora stuff was about. "
Or you can just look at this neat fanart:
Oooh, Raava costume. That should be Korras new Avatar duds for season 3.
The ending to the finale was kind of dumb but I don't think the finale itself was that bad...except for Jinora becoming Jesus. Heck she even rose from the dead. All she has to do now is walk on water. 😐
Also this felt more like a series finale than a season finale. Don't know where they could possibly go after this.